RIVER SEARCH AND SALVAGE AS VIEWED BY THE UNDERWRITER

Operating on the inland waterways there are some 18,000 barges and 4,250 towboats. These ply the thirteen rivers sometimes known as the Mississippi River System or Western Rivers. The Marine Insurance Industry is very much a part of this vast system. Their expertise enables them to render considerable aid and assist those involved in the complexities of river search and salvage. The sinkings or strandings of the barges and their cargoes or towboats on these inland waterways are usually caused by accidents very seldom experienced, if ever, by ocean or lake vessels. Probably the only exception would be one of collision between two tows. Marine Salvage which is practiced or applied on the inland waterways also departs from that employed by ocean or lake salvors. Strandings, also referred to as groundings, are probably the most common of all misfortunes to befall a towboat and its barges, or, as it happens in most cases, the barges alone. Single barge sinkings are the most prevalent. Multiple sinkings are not an everyday occurrence as compared to the frequency of single barge mishaps. They are, however, the most spectacular involving many barges. Other sinkings are those caused by buckling, capsizing, burning or exploding. The search and recovery preparations to raise a sunken barge, her cargo, or the towboat vary from river to river. Each one has its own unpredictable phenomena that will be described.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Preprints-8th Annual Conference and Exposition of the Marine Technology Society. $15.00 per set.
• Corporate Authors:

  Marine Technology Society

  5565 Sterrett Place, Suite 108
  Columbia, MD  United States  21044
• Authors:
  • Drabik, A
• Conference:
  • Preprints-8th Annual Conference and Exposition of the Marine Technology Society. $15.00 per set.
• Publication Date: 1972-9

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 551-562

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Marine transit; Rivers; Salvage; Ship pilotage
• Old TRIS Terms: River navigation
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00035975
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Marine Technology Society
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 20 1978 12:00AM